The Parentcraft session went well yesterday. It was not as scary as the previous one, which of course was very welcome. We covered the types of pain relief available. The three most popular (in order of level of pain relief) are :
Entonox(gas and air)
Often used in the early stages of labour to take the 'edge' off the contractions. It is supplied via a pipe and nozzle/or face-mask. It has no side-effects and does not affect the baby. To be effective it must be used when a contraction starts, and before the pain hits. Entonox is available when having a water or home birth.
Pethidine
This is a synthetic morphine drug. It takes the 'edge' off the pain and induces a feeling of well-being. It is injected and cannot be administered by the patient. It can cause nausea and for this reason an anti-sickness drug is also given at the same time. A possible concern is that as well as affecting the mother, the baby is also tranquilised.
Epidural
The 'mother' of all pain relief. An epidural is administered via a cannula in the mother’s arm. The dose can be administered by the patient via a button which gives a safe, precise dose when needed. The midwive will regularly monitor the patient to check that the 'lie' of the drug is not too high, because this can affect breathing. The drug will cause the blood pressure to drop so this will also need to be monitored and if necessary fluids introduced via an IV drip. An epidural will numb the entire lower body so a catheter is inserted into the bladder. During the later stages of labour the midwife will determine when a contraction starting and tell the patient to push. In 50% of cases a ventouse extraction devices(either hand-held or a powered machine) will need to be used to help baby to be expelled more easily from the birthing canal.